alexandriacardinals

December 26

The afternoon session (Puntarenas Panorama) . . . 

[Again, bypassing the beaches . . . ]

[And this is our afternoon guide, Natasha.  Yes, both guides on this day did look like movie stars . . . ]

[Are you taking my picture?]

[I’m connected to Russian trolls?]

[Some of the local residents out catching rays . . . ]

[Let me out!  I’m innocent!  But as you can see, this is merely a parking lot . . . ]

[Is the guy on the right related to our Supreme Court justice?]

[Arriving Esparza (founded by the Spanish in 1574) where local dancers in traditional costumes entertained us in the city park . . . ]

[The historic Catholic church known as the historic Catholic church . . . ]

[Natasha was an enthusiastic participant . . . ]

[The kids were all terrific.  It’s a long running tradition, the dancers all between the ages of x and y (the ages I’ve long since forgotten) . . . ]

[As I recall, the young lady on the left (in the yellow) was in her last year as she was aging out . . . ]

[Adios!]

[The “Panorama” part continues now, riding along the shore . . . ]

[Through commercial areas . . . ]

[Photo ops out the bus window . . . ]

[On the lookout for some authentic Costa Rican cuisine . . . ]

[Well, it’s the day after Christmas . . . ]

[And now, as the sun sinks slowly in the West, a/k/a, the Pacific Ocean, we just sit back and enjoy the views . . . ]

[Leaving Costa Rica now, next stop Nicaragua . . . ]

Today, in 1692, the salem witch hunt was started, what we today call “TSA screenings.”  ~ Michelle Wolf

Up Next: The cruise, continued?

December 26

A return trip to Costa Rica, the Pacific side . . . 

[And here’s a little something I recently learned at our local Senior College.  Our port of call, Punta Arenas, is on the Gulf of Nicoya.  The Nicoya Peninsula, across the Gulf from Punta Arenas, is one of five international Blue Zones.  This Central American nation isn’t that far from the U.S. geographically, but it is way ahead of us in longevity. The Caribbean nation is economically secure and has excellent health care. But other factors are at play, especially in Nicoya, an 80-mile peninsula just south of the Nicaraguan border (bluezones.com).  Blue Zones are demographic regions of the world where people commonly live active lives past the age of 100 years (Okinawa; Sardinia; Nicoya peninsula Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California).]

[Or maybe the reason for the longevity of these Costa Ricans are the beautiful sunrises?]

[Well, it works for me . . . ]

[Arriving in Punta Arenas . . . ]

[Ho-hum, another sunny day on hand . . . ]

[A beach . . . ]

[And now we’re on one of the dozens of buses here to take we tourists on various land excursions . . . ]

[Past the beach . . . ]

[No, not our final destination, but . . . ]

[A stop along the highway (literally on the shoulder) where buses have been pulling off for wildlife settings for so long . . . ]

[That the wildlife reacts to the arrival of the buses . . . ]

[Here capuchin monkeys . . . ]

[They come in anticipation of . . . food!  Just like human beings!]

[And here, for variety, a coatimundi . . . ]

[Not the least bit concerned about being among we two-legged giants . . . ]

[Do you know the way to . . . ??? ]

[We’re on the way for a walk in a rain forest.  To pass the time, “old” Costa Rican is passed around the bus . . . ]

[The signpost up ahead . . . ]

[The Twilight Zone?]

[Here we are!]

[Carara National Park sits near the Costa Rican Pacific coast, in the Central Pacific Conservation Area.  Carara lies just about 30 miles (about an hour) west of San José and is home to one of the largest populations of wild Scarlet Macaws in the country.  You’ll often get a sighting as you drive on the nearby highway. The park is predominantly formed by primary rainforest, which makes it ideal for birds who nest in the dense trees (vacationcostarica.com).]

[Elderly tourists begin what for many was a longer than anticipated trek through a rather warm and humid jungle . . . ]

[A tree tumor . . . ]

[I took this shot for a reason.  Do you see it?]

[The monkeys, upset by our presence, attempted to discourage our trespass by launching debris at us from the tree tops.  Fortunately, the trees are so dense nothing seemed to get through . . . ]

[A highlght for me were the leaf-cutter ants . . . ]

[I don’t recall seeing any exotic birds (well, a pair coming up) . . . ]

[There!  See it up there?  I have no idea what they were pointing at?]

[Again, there’s something here somewhere . . . I think?]

[Just to highlight a tall tree among other growth around and attached to it.]

[The giant kapok tree . . . ]

[The common American tourist . . . ]

[They were looking at a tiny white bat – see it?]

[Another large rain forest tree . . . ]

[An example of the strangler fig (as it wraps around a host tree) . . . ]

[I recognize it’s hard to see – but there’s an agouti back there in the sunlight . . . ]

[Our guide was a good spotter of such.  Speaking of our guide . . . ]

[Finally, you get to meet our morning guide, Andrea . . . ]

[Another strangler fig . . . ]

[Now you know . . . ]

[We came to a fork in the road – and this was it . . . ]

[Strangler figs are everywhere.  And if you look just to the right of this one, you’ll see . . . ]

[The ultimate destination for our into the forest hike was to see them – a Scarlet Macaw couple in their living room.  Carara National Park is a major habitat for this endangered species . . . ]

[Located at the bridge over this torrential body of water . . . ]

[We said our good-byes to Mr. and Mrs. Macaw . . . ]

[And turned around to head back out . . . ]

[I forgot what this was, but it doesn’t look appetizing . . . ]

[Leaf-cutter ants cutting over, under, and through our path . . . ]

[Do you see it?]

[I don’t recall . . . ]

[But it wasn’t this guy, who I ran across a bit later . . . ]

[In the jungle, the mighty jungle . . .  It was a 2-hour round trip hike.  Some realized early on they weren’t going to make it, so they sat down and waited to rejoin the group on the return trip.  Since I was constantly taking photos, I was lagging behind the group which allowed me to keep an eye out for any stragglers . . . ]

[The park’s name is the native Huetar word for crocodile. Visit the park and you’ll understand why since the Tarcoles River, which forms the park’s northern boundary, is famous around the world for its giant and plentiful crocodiles. The Tarcoles River Bridge on the Coastal Highway is a favorite place for tourists to stop and view the monster-sized crocodiles below. Boat tours on the river also are very popular (enchanting-costarica.com).]

[It was a tough walk across the bridge – it was high (my acrophobia), the walk lane was very narrow, and there was continuous vehicle traffic on both sides of the road (the holiday season) . . . ]

[It was still morning, and we’re heading back to ship to catch our afternoon excursion.]

[Passing by our beach . . . ]

[And the holiday traffic . . . ]

[And to say good-bye to Andrea.  We would have another guide in the afternoon . . . ]

The only way to be sure of catching a train is to miss the one before it.  ~  G. K. Chesterton

Up Next:  Part 2

December 25, MERRY CHRISTMAS

At Sea

[Christmas Day, just floating around on the boat all day, the Super races out front in her swimsuit amid reports of whale sightings . . . ]

[It was too windy to see . . . ]

[So, let’s just have Christmas lunch by the pool . . . ]

[And then a little classical trio before dinner . . . ]

[Dinner . . . ]

[Back row seats in the theater . . . ]

[Merry Christmas to all.  Since we were on the move all day, Santa was unable to find us so I never received my well-deserved gifts.  Our photo bomber, Ibe May, still reports in as a “worlder” – now two months since we left the ship, she last reported in from Malaysia.  When asked how she’s doing, she reported, “Hey Tom it’s been incredible!”  Ha, I still can’t imagine having two more months on the ship since we left.]

A cruise ship is a floating town of lazy people.  ~ Garrison Keillor

Up Next:  Maybe basketball?

December 24, a/k/a Christmas Eve

Panama Canal

[What better way to spend Christmas Eve . . . ]

[A beautiful day for a cruise through the Panama Canal . . . ]

[I believe this boat is delivering a local pilot . . . ]

[All the other ships waiting “in line” for passage . . . ]

[Mission completed . . . ]

[The third bridge over the Panama Canal, known as the Atlantic Bridge, is a road bridge under construction in Colon, which will span the Atlantic entrance to the Canal. When completed it will be a third bridge over the Panama Canal after the Bridge of the Americas and the Centennial Bridge, both on the Pacific side of the canal.  The bridge is proposed to be a double-pylon, double-plane, concrete girder, cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 530 metres (1,740 ft), and two side spans of 230 metres (750 ft).  The east and west approaches are to be 1,074 metres (3,524 ft) and 756 metres (2,480 ft) long, respectively.  (Wikipedia).  The estimated completion date is mid-2018.]

[Needless to say, all cameras on board are here!]

[I remain amazed at how they build these things?]

[The audience (passengers) are agog . . . ]

[Looks like we have another cruise ship in front of us . . . ]

[About to enter the locks.  The Panama Canal is an artificial 77 km (48 mi) waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.  The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade.  Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artifical lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 34 m (110 ft) wide.  A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016.  The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016.  The new locks allow transit of larger,  post-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo (Wikipedia) . . . ]

[The new look of the modern tug . . . ]

[France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate.  The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914.  One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or the Strait of Magellan . . . ]

[Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction.  The U.S. continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama.  After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, in 1999, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government and is now managed and operated by the government-owned Panama Canal Authority . . . ]

[Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million tons.  By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal.  It takes six to eight hours to pass through the Panama Canal.  The American Society of Civil Engineers has called the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world (Wikipedia).]

[And if you’re interested in the political history of the Panama Canal Treaties, you can read all about it in my Dad’s book . . . ]

[These “mules” (train engines) are used for side-to-side and braking control in the locks, which are narrow relative to modern-day ships.  Forward motion into and through the locks is actually provided by the ship’s engines and not the mules (Wikipedia).   The mules weigh 42 tons . . . ]

[A ship coming through from the Pacific side.  We are, incidentally, going through the original canal.  We were told a large container ship has to pay about $1.2 million to go through the canal.  Not sure what our ship had to pay . . . ]

[The ship ahead of us in the first lock . . . ]

[Our mules start forward . . . ]

[As two ships pass in the daylight, both sides are shooting photos . . . ]

[The boat ahead is now in lock number 2 . . . ]

[As we enter 1 . . . ]

[The mules will go up the ramp guiding us through as we rise with the water . . . ]

[Must be time for a breakfast break with boat friends, Jack and JoAnne, who arranged Ruthie’s birthday party.  They were a hoot . . . ]

[Local legend decrees that if you see an isthmus rainbow on Christmas Eve, you will be forever endowed with a TSA PreCheck . . . ]

[It didn’t work!]

[We’re going through the canal now, a major part of which is Gatun Lake . . . ]

[Another feature that is visible in the lake is the sets of canal markers.  These look like small white lighthouses.  When you see the first one on the right, watch behind it to the right and you will see another up a hill in a clearing.  The ships use these to guide through the canal.  Watch forward to see the ones currently in use and they will point a straight path directly up the center of the leg of the canal.  Every straight leg has a set of markers for each direction.  The bridge crew line up to the markers and stay straight to avoid any under water obstacles (tiggertravels.com).]

[The lake is 165 square miles large . . . ]

[Returning inside, the wall photo at Mamsen’s . . . ]

[A couple of Norwegian cross-country skiers?]

[Obviously shot through a window . . . ]

[A narrowing stretch of the canal . . . ]

[We must be getting close to the end . . . ]

[The aforementioned Centennial Bridge . . . ]

[Guide posts on the terraces . . . ]

[The end is nigh . . . ]

[In the distance, the aforementioned Bridge of the Americas . . . ]

[And there it is, the Pacific Ocean on the other side . . . ]

[And there’s Panama City again – one hour by bus, eight hours by boat . . . ]

[Feeling the waters of the Pacific . . . ]

[And under the bridge, the highway that goes from the southern tip of South Amerca to the northern tip of North America . . . ]

[And within sight of the Biodiversity Museum again . . . ]

[Putting the Bridge of the Americas in our rearview mirror . . . ]

[Ahead, the vast Pacific . . . ]

[Free of clutter, the city . . . ]

[Getting upclose and personal with the Biomuseo . . . ]

[We bused out here the previous day . . . ]

[Adios, Panama!]

[And as the sun sets . . . ]

[We look forward to an all day cruise on Christmas day . . . ]

[Proof that we did it . . . on the first Viking ship to pass through the canal.]

I get pretty much all the exercise I need walking down airport concourses carrying bags.  ~  Guy Clark

Up Next:  Cruise, day 11